Messages - Joe Sr.

I think it really depends on the yeast and the gravity of the beer. 3 degrees is not much, but with something like 1968 or 3724 you could get a stall or have the yeast drop out early. A normal gravity beer should be done in the first seven days, but a high gravity beer could take a bit longer.

And AFAIC, I don't know why anyone would buy used kegs any more. You can get new ones on sale for within 5 bucks of what you'd pay for used ones. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

The last time I bought used kegs (maybe 12 months ago) I got them for $40 each and I think it was free shipping. AiH has some nice sales on a regular basis. That's a lot more than $5 less and when I finally got around to cleaning them up they were in great condition. I love the smaller kegs, but I just can't justify spending more money on them. Plus I don't need any kegs. I have way too many.

For small kegs, I've also bought used pin-locks from AiH. Again I want to say it was something like $40 per keg, delivered. I thought about changing out the posts to ball lock, but it was cheaper just to buy some pin-lock fittings. All my lines have flare fittings, so changing them is simple.

I came across a bottle of Weller Antique and they wanted something north of $30. The first Special Reserve I picked up had to be less than $20 and maybe six years ago. I think the prices have gone up because of the link to Pappy, even though there is no longer a Weller distillery.

The issue I have with the more inexpensive Scotches is that for the money, I think a cheap bourbon is the better buy. A $25 is only so-so, but spend that on bourbon and you get a nice range of quality choices.

I'm not finding much in the $25 range these days. Maker's and Bulliet when it's on sale. Other than that you're into the Jim and Jack selection. Or dropping down into the Very Old Barton budget shelf.

$32 seems to be the bottom end for anything decent. Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig, etc. is all at the range around here. Move up to Wathen's (if you can find it) or Four Roses Single Barrel and your talking $40 or more.

Good luck with the bottle spunding. I've only had one bottle crack in some 20+ years of brewing but I still worry. I had a couple batches of saison that kept going after bottling some years ago but those were all in corked champagne bottles and they held a massive amount of carbonation. Maybe that's the way to go.

I'd be concerned about 1) potential infections taking the gravity even lower than the FFT and 2) reusing bottles, regardless of what kind, can result in potentially compromised bottles.

Exploding bottles are a scary thought.

If you're that concerned about 02 ingress/damage maybe it's time to invest in kegs?

I assume the problem with regular bottle conditioning is the initial exposure to 02 upon bottling, since the beer isn't actively fermenting. Is that it? Sorry, I don't really have the time to get into the weeds of all the posts on 02.

I think if you heat the water without gelatin to boiling and let it cool, no worries. Something happens if you boil the gelatin, though. Likely it clumps into nasty glops of goo that you don't want in your beer. It's been years since I boiled it though.

I agree that given time and cold temps you can get clear beer without gelatin.